Gilbert Alexander
Dr. Gilbert AlexanderGilbert Alexander - Greetings Radio Message was a scientist who worked for Frank Fontaine and later Andrew Ryan. Alexander developed the impractical Pair Bonding mechanism between Alpha Series Big Daddies and Little Sisters, starting with Eleanor Lamb and Subject Delta, in whose creation he was also heavily involved. History Alexander was an ambitious researcher in the early days of Fontaine Futuristics, specializing in mechanical and robotic engineering. At the height of his career, he designed much of Rapture's automated security systemsBioShock 2 Help Caption for Gilbert Alexander and was influential in the creation and advancements of Big Daddies,Augustus Sinclair - Gil's Connection Radio Message modifying their suits with gadgets and armor. Like many scientists who worked for Fontaine, Alexander was likely forced to work for Ryan Industries or be imprisoned at Fontaine's Department Store. Based on Suchong's work (which he believed to be inadequate),Gilbert Alexander's Audio Diary: Improving on Suchong's Work Alexander created the Alpha Series, a new type of Big Daddy that was meant to serve as the Little Sisters' constant guardian. It was this role that ultimately gave the Big Daddies their nickname. It also inspired Alexander to develop the Pair Bond: a bond that forced an Alpha Series to protect a single Little Sister with their life.Gilbert Alexander's Audio Diary: A Father's Love Unfortunately, however, the Pair Bond turned out to be a failure. In Alexander's own words, it "simply worked too well". The Alpha Series Protectors became dangerously unstable after losing their bonded Sister, either because she had been killed or because she had been turned human again.Gilbert Alexander's Audio Diary: Outlived Usefulness From then on, Alexander worked on the Protector Program using older Big Daddy models and a more suitable bonding method. He also worked on the creation of the Vita-Chamber with Augustus Sinclair and Suchong. After the war, Alexander and the remaining scientists began working for Sofia Lamb. During this time, he created the RumblerGilbert Alexander's Audio Diary: The Rumbler as well as the Big Sister suits.Gilbert Alexander's Audio Diary: Big Sister Once highly committed to his job, he came to regret his actions and eventually joined the Rapture Family. Lamb used his guilt to manipulate him into volunteering for an experiment of her own,BioShock 2 Help Caption for Gilbert Alexander which she named "the New Utopian project". Based on Jack's mental conditioning (as Sofia believed it to be), the subject of the operation would be imbued with the entire collective genius of Rapture via ADAM infusion, suppressing their own personal identity.Sofia Lamb's Audio Diary: Gil's Place in the Plan The plan failed, and Alexander was heavily mutated and rendered quite insane by the enormous amounts of ADAM injected into him. Seeing that he was no longer useful to her, Lamb cruelly abandoned himGilbert Alexander's Audio Diary: Abort the Experiment but left him in control of the Fontaine Futuristics headquarters. Post-mutation Gil, now calling himself "Alex the Great", manipulates his surroundings using a modified Security Bot, which he controls via four hijacked Bot Shutdown Panels. The Bot itself is distinguished by its added television monitor, displaying Gil's manic eyes, and distinctive violet running lights. Alex the Great spends most of his time "running" the Fontaine Futuristics business and manages his spliced "employees" by sadistically punishing them. ''BioShock 2'' Before losing his mind, Gil recorded audio logs with instructions for gaining access to the inner areas of Fontaine Futuristics. In these logs, he also asks anyone who might find them to end his life. However, Alex the Great uses his modified Security Bot (and surprisingly operatic singing voice) to prevent Delta from accessing the Security Office and, by extension, his hideout. After destroying all four of Alex's signal relays, the otherwise invulnerable Security Bot is neutralized. Subject Delta is finally able to enter the Security Office, listen to Gil's next message, and unlock the door that leads to the hidden laboratories. After crossing the ocean floor, Delta enters a pitch dark laboratory and finds the scientist in a massive tank for deep sea life. Another of Gil's old messages instructs him to gather a bunch of plants infused with ADAM, a delicacy that his spliced self cannot resist. Using four ADAM-infused plants, Delta manages to lure Gil close enough to the glass wall of his lair so a sample of his DNA can be taken. Shortly thereafter, a key is printed, allowing Delta to open the hidden doorway behind the Oxy-Fill station outside. Having now been granted access to Persephone, the player is left to decide Gil's fate. Gilbert's Fate (Choice) Following Dr. Alexander's long-previously recorded guidance, the player is ultimately given the choice to electrify Alex's holding chamber through its sample disposal system, fulfilling Gil's wish to die, or spare him, for which his ADAM-produced alter ego, Alex the Great, now begs. For the purposes of the ending, killing Alexander is treated the same as killing the two other NPCs Grace Holloway and Stanley Poole, even if one does it out of a sense of mercy. Subject Delta's encounter with Dr. Alexander is represented by a statue in the Little Sister's version of the Cell Blocks of Outer Persephone. If the player chose to kill Gilbert, the statue depicts Subject Delta battling a giant serpent (representing Alex the Great). If the player chose to let Gilbert live, the statue depicts Subject Delta pulling a man (presumably Dr. Alexander) out of the mouth of the giant serpent (again representing Alex the Great). Personality From the audio diaries recorded prior to his mutation, Gilbert Alexander was unobtrusive, self-effacing, and remarkably soft-spoken. A subtle presence despite his impressive achievements, Alexander nonetheless exhibited the same lack of scientific ethics that defined the city's intellectual elite, conducting monstrous experiments on unwilling test subjects to create the Big Daddies and readily taking part in the brainwashing of the Little Sisters with no visible signs of guilt. However, he eventually experienced a great epiphany that made him feel remorse for his actions, and resolved to make amends as best as he could, helping restore Eleanor Lamb from her Little Sister conditioning to some semblance of normality, but unfortunately, this personal revelation was deliberately manipulated by Sofia in order to encourage his loyalty to her cult, and under her command, he gladly continued his experiments - this time believing that he was in service to the greater good. Despite this indoctrination, he nonetheless held no illusions over his abandonment by Sofia in the wake of his hideous mutation by way of excessive splicing: though audibly depressed by his ongoing loss of sanity, he refused to lose composure even during his final days, ultimately setting out to arrange his assisted suicide - hoping that his future killer would be able to save Eleanor from the same fate he suffered. In sharp contrast, "Alex the Great" is a cackling, cruel lunatic. He gleefully kills dissenting Splicers in his command under the guise of a corporate disciplinarian, burning the words "YOU'RE FIRED" onto any available surfaces for emphasis. He regards execution as legal dismissal and an ambush on Delta as simply escorting him out of the building, views Delta's attempt to use a bot shutdown panel as an attempt to steal his job, and egotistically proclaims his own voice copyrighted company property; He even conducts battle royale-style "demonstrations" of Fontaine Futuristics Plasmids with the air of a dedicated advertising showman, electrocuting corpses among the audience of Splicers in an attempt to get them to participate. Audio Diaries ''BioShock 2'' *Atlantic Express **Improving on Suchong's Work *Ryan Amusements **A Father's Love *Siren Alley **The Rumbler **The Pair Bond Mechanism *Dionysus Park **A Secular Saint **Growing Up *Fontaine Futuristics **Agnus Dei **Source of Volunteers **Prototype **Abort the Experiment **Solving for X **Outlived Usefulness **Big Sister *Removed Audio Diaries **Alpha Series **Not Nigh Enough **Abandoned **Alpha Series: Failure **False Fatherhood **Lamb's Gambit **Problems and Solutions **Subject Delta **The First Little Sister **Training the Sleepwalkers Videos Gallery Concept Art and Models Gil Concept Art.png|''Gil as seen in Deco Devolution artbook. Concept Art by Dermot Power.'' Splicegilbert.jpg|''Another concept.'' Gil Alexender tank concept.png|''Concept art of Alexander's tank.'' AlexSphereTankConcept2.jpg|''Concept art of Alexander's tank in a sphere shape.'' AlexSphereTankConcept3.jpg|''Another sphere tank concept.'' GilScreen d.png|''Gilbert's face on his Security Bot.'' Gil-a monster.jpg|''Detailed spliced Gil Alexander model. Extracted by BioShock Russia.'' Gilbert statue save.png|''Gilbert Alexander's Statue in Outer Persephone if his life is spared.'' Gilbert statue kill.png|''Gilbert Alexander's Statue in Outer Persephone if the player kills him.'' In-Game Images ADAM-Infused Plant.jpg|''The plants required to lure Gil out of hiding.'' Gilgenekey.jpg|''Obtaining Gil's genetic key.'' Xanderdeath.jpg|''Alex the Great's demise.'' Behind the Scenes *Gil Alexander's name was a tribute to Stephen Alexander, an FX artist at Irrational Games who was influential in the making of BioShock."Arcadia Demade" designer commentary by Jean-Paul LeBreton on his blog, vectorpoem.com *Alex the Great, Gil's alias, is based on Alexander the Great, a famous Macedonian king.Alexander the Great on Wikipedia *It is possible to see Gil's true form inside the tank with the use of console commands.BioShock 2 - Meet Gil Alexander on YouTube *As seen in concept art images from Deco Devolution artbook, Gilbert's tank would have originally been a giant sphere with large blue-lit portholes covering its metal surface. *Gil's Audio Diary, Agnus Dei, is a reference to the Latin phrase "Agnus Dei" meaning "Lamb of God". It refers to Jesus' sacrificial offering to atone for the sins of humanity.Lamb of God on Wikipedia *During development of BioShock 2, before Gilbert Alexander was given an official name, employees at 2K Marin referred to him as the "The Guilt Navigator" - a pun referencing the Dune novels.Guild Navigator in the Dune novels, on WikipediaTidBits, Game Informer, #204, April 2010, p. 29 *According to the subtitles' file of BioShock 2, the Audio Diary "Alpha Series" was removed from Fontaine Futuristics and not Dionysus Park as stated on Cult of Rapture. *The concept for Gil was inspired by "The End of the Whole Mess," a short story by Stephen King."BioShock 2" Developer commentary by Dean TateThe End of the Whole Mess on Wikipedia References de:Gil Alexander es:Gil Alexander fr:Gilbert Alexandre ru:Гилберт Александер Category:Splicers Category:The Rapture Family Category:BioShock 2 Characters Category:BioShock 2 Enemies Category:BioShock: Rapture Characters